Rail joint



Feb. 28, 1933.

R. FARIES RAIL JOINT Filed Feb. 11, 1932 F1 6': fl+

INVENTOR: R0651? Furies,

BY M

A TTORNEYS.

I to

Patented Feb. 28,1933

I ROBERT FARIESQOQFIEST. DAVID'S, PENNSYLVANIA:

- RAIL Joinrz My invention relates to rail joints, and more particularly'to means for connecting v the opposite bars of a rail joint in such man- I m ner as to eliminate,'or at least to minimize l 3 substantially, the undesirable effects of wear incident to long service. It is generally recognized by those skilled in thiscart that the i wear which takes place at railjoints and stresses accompanying the pounding action of heavyloads or resultin wave motion set up'in the rails, is not'unii ormly distributed along the joint bars; but, on the contrary, this m wear is considerably more pronounced at the heads of the joint'ba'rs in their central regions adjacent to the railends and at the bases of the joint bars near the bar ends. Heretofo're many different schemes; have beenproposed for overcoming the ill efl'ects of',wear,1in-

' cluding, for example, the use of joint bars of a" variety of different shapes designed for the purpose, eitherof providing for a;uniform rate of wear throughout the length of a rail joint, or of providing for automatic;

compensation of wear at particular areas, or to relievein some way the traCk-COI1d1t1OI1S which are respons ble for wear." Obviously,

however, joint bars of irregular contouror pof varying cross sect on are more expenslve 3 tomanufacture than are ordinary flat bars "such as are now in extensive commercial use.

/ Accordingly, the object of my present invention is to provide, in; a rail oint, bars of 9 9 'a. the bolt holes, namely those designated at 9, are of circular shape and others, namely I those designated at 9a, are of elliptical shape. Inasmuch as the bolt holes 9 alternate with the bolt holes 9a,'when two joint bars Q'are simple and inexpensive manufacture, and

: designed for-use with track bolts or other suitable connecting means which areso arranged with respect to the neutral axes of thebar as to tend to draw inward toward the rails those fishing surfaces of the bars which are subject to the most severe .wear, and hence to overcome the ill effects of such wean,

"Other objects and advantages characterize ing my invention will become'more fully ap parent from the detailed description hereinafter of a particular embodiment thereof,

having reference to the accompanying drawing. Of the drawing:

Fig, Irepresents a side elevation of one rail j oint embodying form or example of 1a my invention. a

which is caused by various kinds of bending longitudinal movement between the joint bars and rails.

Application filed February 11, 1982. Serial No. 592,265]; v v I i N.

Fig, II represents a cross section of the same, taken as indicated-by the lines IIII of Fig, I; and,

Fig. III represents a cross section of the I same, taken as indicated by the linesI-IL-III' ofFigI. I r f In the drawing, the adjoining rails of a rail joint are designated at 1 and the joint bars disposed atopposite sides of the rails are designated at '2. The rails 1 are of standard 1 form, comprising a head 3, a web 4, and a base 5. Likewise the joint bars 2 are generally similar in their exterior configuration to'joint bars now in use. Thus each joint bar 2 is of uniform cross section-throughout and ineludes fiat plane fishing surfaces 6 and 7 E which engage, respectively, the underside of the 'rail heads 3 and the top sloping surfaces of the rail bases 5. Each joint bar is provided at its web portion with an outer. flat face 8 which serves as a bolting surface. While there has been selectedfor purposes of illus- 'tration aparticular form of joint bar, it is to be understood that the general. configuration at whichthe web of fromrthe rail. I

Each joint bar 2 is provided throughout the length thereof with a series of bolt holes In the present example, certainof assembled at a rail joint, each bolt hole 9 0f' circularshape will be opposite a bolt hole 9a of elliptical'sha'pe in thecompanion joint bar, and thus provision is made for relative a V i In the present example of the invention,

six track bolts 10 are employed as themeans for connecting the joint bars 2 together. Each track bolt 10 has thereon a lock washer V ll and anut 12. The bolts 10 are' s o assem-f bled that at each side of the rail joint, the bolt heads 13 and the nuts 12 are alternately presented. The bolt holes 9, 9a are arranged longitudinally of the rail joint substantially along the arc of a circle. 7 At ww there is represented the neutral axis of the joint bar 2, and it will be noted that the two bolt holes 9, 9a;v which are nearest to the meeting ends of the rails 1 are disposed in a plane parallel to and above the neutral axis. On the other hand, the bolt holes '9, 9a which are nearest to the ends of the joint bars 2 are disposed in a plane parallel to and beneath the plane of the neutral axis of the bar; whereas the remaining bolt holes 9, 9a which are disposed at intermediate regions of the bar are in an intermediate parallel plane substantially coincidental with the neutral axis. WVith this arrangement of the bolt holes, the pair of bolts 10 which are situated adjacent to the rail ends tend to draw inward towards the rail heads 3 the flat fishing surfaces 6 of the joint bars at this region. In like manner the pair of bolts 10 which are situated adjacent to the joint bar" ends, tend to draw inward the flat fishing surfaces 7 of the joint bars toward the bases 5 of the rails. 7

Thus when the oint. bars 2 are assembled in position at a rail oint, and when the nuts 12 have been tighten-ed on the bolts 10, each joint bar is placed under a stress which tends to twist or flex the same inward with increased pressure at the critical areas where wear is most pronounced. This not only re sults in an automatic drawing in or takeup of the joint bars as wear occurs, but it also results in an initial horizontal and vertical trussing effect in the joint which is most desirable. 7

While I have illustrated and described herein one particular rail joint'embodying the practice of my invention, it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form of the joint bars herein disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1

faces, and having a web portion with bolt 7 holes therein arranged substantially along the arc of a circle with the center bolt holes above the end bolt holes. a

3. A rail joint bar having a uniform cross section throughout with plane fishing surfaces, and having a web portion with bolt holes arranged therein with the center bolt holes above the neutral axis of the bar, and with the end bolt holes below the neutral axis of the bar.

4. A rail joint bar having straight fishing surfaces continuous from end to end and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar, and having a series of bolt holes in the web portion arranged with a pair of center bolt holes in a plane parallel to and above the plane of the neutral axis of the bar, and with a pairof end bolt holes in a plane parallel to and beneath the plane of the neutral axis of the bar. I

5. A rail joint bar having straight fishing surfacesconti'nuous from end to end and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar, and

1 having a series of bolt holes in the web por .the neutral axis of the bar, with a pair of,

end bolt holes in a plane parallel to and beneath the plane of the neutral axis of the bar, and" with a pair of intermediate bolt holes in an intermediate parallel plane.-

6. In a rail joint, adjoining rails, joint bars atopposite sides of said rails, said joint bars having straight fishing surfaces continuous from end to end and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar, and a series of bolts connecting said joint bars at intervals of their length, the bolts adjacent to the rail ends being disposed in a plane above the bolts adjacent to the bar ends.

7. In a rail joint, adjoining rails, joint bars atopposite sides of said rails, said joint bars having straight fishing surfaces c011- tinuous from'end to end and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar, and a series of bolts connecting said joint bars at intervals of their length, the bolts adjacent to the rail ends being disposed in a plane above the bolts adjacent to the bar ends, and other bolts being disposed at intermediate regions in an intermediate plane.

I 8. A rail jointbar having a uniform cross.

section throughout with plane fishing surfaces, and having a series of bolt holes therein 7 arranged at different vertical distances from the neutral axis whereby when appliedto rails greater clamping pressure is obtained at certain regions of the joint bar than at other regions. j 7

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this 10th day of February, 1932.

a ROBERT FAR IES. 

